


i won't hurt you

by steviesbucks



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Angst, Episode: s05e14 The Devil Complex, F/M, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, I'm Sorry, this is literally an awful valentines day fic holy shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:55:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29412270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steviesbucks/pseuds/steviesbucks
Summary: Jemma didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to fix this, how to make sure what was going to happen didn’t happen. So she spoke. Keep her in a conversation, keep her busy, keep her away from Daisy.-Fitzsimmons role swap AU set during The Devil Complex.
Relationships: Jemma Simmons & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	i won't hurt you

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This fic has literally been the death of me because the more and more I wrote, the madder I was getting at it for some reason? This was meant to be a valentine's day flower prompt fill for Quakerider Writers Guild's challenge and while it is, it absolutely isn't fluffy valentines happiness, I'm sad to report. My prompt was chamomile which holds the meaning of patience in adversity and what bigger adversity than the bombshell that was this episode? I hope that you don't hate me too much after this, whoops! As always, a huge thanks to my betas [hazzarat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazzarat) and [showzen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/showzen) who listened to me complain how angry this was making me (and for reassuring me it wasn't awful). Feel free to check them out if you'd like and I hope you enjoy!

Jemma didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how to fix this, how to make sure what was going to happen didn’t happen. So she spoke. Keep her in a conversation, keep her busy, keep her away from Daisy. 

“You are a monster.” 

The woman didn’t even react, continuing on with looking at her tools. 

“You programmed those robots to attack Yo-Yo and now you’ve got Daisy lying on an operating table.” 

It was unnerving, seeing somebody so much like herself looming over her best friend like that, scalpel in her gloved hands. She held those hands up as a show of innocence, the blade held carefully by a finger. “If the robot attacked, it must’ve been because it was provoked. I simply programmed it to keep Mack and the others at bay while  _ I _ set to work removing Daisy’s inhibitor.” She had made her way around the table and was sitting by Daisy’s head, gesturing at the spot behind her ear with her scalpel. A face that looked just like her own, hands that she could remember using to do horrid, awful things. 

Daisy. The scalpel. The inhibitor. Ripping it out, wire by wire. 

“What?” 

“Well, her powers are the missing link to manipulating the gravitonium.” 

She shook her head, as if she could will the Doctor away, as if she wasn’t now in the room with her. Long gone was the voice in the back of her head, telling her all the things she could do if she just gave in. She was here now, and she was putting Daisy in very real danger. Jemma had to do something. 

_ “What’s going on?”  _ Daisy whispered, laying still apart from the rise and fall of her chest. The rope and head restraint were probably keeping her stuck.

Daisy. The scalpel. The inhibitor. Ripping it out, wire by wire. 

“They’re… They’re… Wait- stop. Just stop it, stop it, stop it!” She covered her eyes with shaky hands, willing away the image as if the anomaly would just leave if she wished hard enough. She needed to stop the Doctor, get her away from Daisy, keep her busy. 

“You know that I’m right.” The woman sounded so  _ sure _ , so certain, in a voice that was Jemma’s own. Her voice. Her mind. They shared the same mind, she knew that much, but she could never do this, not to Daisy. She loved Daisy, she wouldn’t hurt her. 

“No.  _ No. _ ” She felt her own breathing quicken, the shake of nervous hands as she pulled them away from her eyes. The hands felt heavy, like they weren’t her own as she stared at the Doctor across from her. “I- I won’t let you- bec- because- because-” She kept trying to talk, the words sticking in her mouth like tacky glue. The harder she tried, the worse her attempts got and the more the anomaly mocked her. 

She mimicked her movements, the stuttering of her hand, the way Jemma couldn’t get her words out. All the things that she had obviously never had trouble with in the Framework, or at least not that she let on. 

“You’ll what?” The Doctor started rounding the table again, walking towards Jemma as she took a few steps back. Lead her away from Daisy, take her away. 

Daisy. The scalpel. The inhibitor. Ripping it out, wire by wire. 

“Take a look at yourself, Jemma. You are  _ weak _ . A weak, scared little girl. Together, we can fix it.” Jemma had never heard her name said with such disdain, spat as though it tasted foul in the other woman’s mouth. They share a name, she reminded herself, they share a brain and an image and a body too. 

_ “Who are you talking to?”  _ Daisy cried, chest heaving as she tried to breathe. 

Daisy. The scalpel. The inhibitor. Ripping it out, wire by wire. 

“No. No.” She wasn’t doing that. She wasn’t hurting Daisy- she couldn’t, she loved Daisy. Daisy was Jemma’s friend, so she couldn’t hurt her. 

“Finish what we started. Our work isn’t done yet.” 

Jemma covered her eyes again, shaking her head, begging all of this to be a bad dream. “No! I’m not going to hurt-”    
  
“Jemma!”    
  
Jemma and the Doctor looked up from where they were standing, seeing Fitz make his way through the sheets the Doctor had hung up. 

_ “Fitz… Help me…”  _

Fitz looked at her face, then slowly down her body. He raised his gaze again as he started taking slow steps towards Daisy. Didn’t he see how much danger he was in? The Doctor was  _ right _ there. “Jems? Hey, hey, look at me. Put the scalpel down.” 

What? Jemma looked away from him for a moment, squeezing her eyes closed and shaking her head, trying to figure out what he must’ve actually said. Jemma didn’t  _ have _ a scalpel. Her hands were empty. She was trying to keep the Doctor busy, keep her away from Daisy, Daisy who she loved. 

“Jemma?” 

She looked back at Fitz. The room was just her, Daisy and Fitz. No Doctor. Where did she go? She couldn’t have just run off, could she? Fitz wouldn’t let her get away with that. Maybe she’d left, decided that this wasn’t worth her time, that she’d go elsewhere. She was an anomaly, after all, and Jemma could finish the job. 

She jumped at her own thought. It was out of place. Wasn’t Fitz saying something about a scalpel? 

_ Daisy. The scalpel. The inhibitor. Ripping it out, wire by wire.  _

Daisy. The scalpel. The inhibitor. Ripping it out, wire by wire. 

Daisy made a pained noise from behind her, probably struggling against the restraints. They were too tight. She wouldn’t get out. 

She leaned in closer to Fitz, as if she could somehow process what he was saying to her better. “What? No, no, it’s not me. She was right… she was right over…” She looked over to Daisy, struggling to remember exactly where the Doctor had been standing, even moments before. Why couldn’t she remember? She caught the glint of something in the corner of her eye and lifted up her hand as if to shield her eyes from it. 

Her gloved hands.

The scalpel was in her right hand. As she inspected it, it was used. 

Daisy. The scalpel. The inhibitor. Ripping it out, wire by wire.

_ “What is happening?”  _ Daisy was sniffling audibly, pained noises continuing. 

This was The Doctor’s plan. To finish the job.  _ How _ did the scalpel get in her hand? She loved Daisy and she’d only tried to help her by driving the Doctor away. Keeping her away from Daisy, away from the inhibitor. 

_ Finish the job. _

“Jemma- It wasn’t an anomaly. It was  _ you _ .” 

She thought she remembered inputting code somewhere, pressing a few rogue buttons and hitting somebody as hard as she could with the wrench. It was fuzzy, though, not quite tangible enough of a thought for her to grab onto. 

“Programming the robots, keeping everybody else occupied.” 

_ To isolate Daisy. _

“To isolate Daisy,” she echoed, voice quiet to her own ears. She kept her gaze on the scalpel, eyes trained on the blade, almost in awe. “All part of her… plan.  _ My _ plan.” 

_ Our plan. Finish what we started.  _

“Hey. Look at me?” His voice was soft, patient, obviously not wanting to startle her. She was armed, after all. Jemma did as he asked, keeping her body still but turning her head to gaze at her husband. He was smiling but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “We can work this all out, yeah? Just need to let Daisy get up. You can do that, can’t you, Jems?”

“No, I can’t. I can’t turn back now, Fitz.”    
  
“Of course you can.” He sounded desperate, his eyes wide and body tense. She still felt the heavy weight of the scalpel in her hand, like a burden she couldn’t quite hold right. 

She knew, somehow, that she needed to take a step back. Step away from Fitz. “She planned for that too.” 

The robot made its way into the room, dragging Deke with one arm and holding the gun to Fitz with the other. The Doctor really had planned for every possible opportunity. 

_ Not me. This was all you. Your choice. You chose to listen to me.  _

Fitz stilled, looking briefly at Deke but otherwise not moving an inch. “Jemma, I know you don’t want to hurt anybody. You don’t want to point this gun at me.”    
  
“The Doctor does. She would. She did. She programmed that to make sure I’d go through with it, so you didn’t get hurt.” She took tentative steps over to Daisy who squirmed from where she was on the bed, whimpering as she tried to get out of her restraints. 

Daisy. The scalpel. The inhibitor. Ripping it out, wire by wire. 

“She didn’t want to hurt you, just like she didn’t want to hurt Mack. It’s just- I wouldn’t have done any of this if I didn’t  _ believe _ it was going to work.” Jemma gestured at Daisy with the scalpel. She loved Daisy. She needed to keep her safe, keep the rest of humanity safe, and this was how. 

“You don’t  _ know _ it’s going to work.” Fitz’s voice was high and ragged. Jemma looked over- he was crying, lone tears falling down his face. She was doing this for  _ him _ . If she did this, she saved everybody. 

_ You might finally be worth something,  _ the voice in the back of her head offered. 

“The science is sound. There are  _ always _ risks involved. You know that, Fitz.” She gave a little smile, nodding her head as she spoke. This would work. Of course it would work. What other choice did she have? What else could she possibly do? 

“You’re right, of course you’re right, but- potentially paralysing Daisy or destroying the world are two massive risks, Jemma.” His eyes kept steady contact with her and she could see the fear and worry no longer hidden, could feel the weight of his gaze crying out to her to stop, to hear what he was saying. 

To give in. Jemma couldn’t give in. She loved Daisy. She loved Fitz. She couldn’t love them if they were dead, and this would save their lives. 

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen, then.” 

She made her way over to the tray of tools, abandoning the scalpel she was holding before. She supposed she must have already made the incision if it was used and now just needed something to remove the inhibitor. 

_ “No. No, no, no, no- Jemma- Jemma, Jemma, Jemma! Please, please, Jemma, I am begging you- please, you don’t want to do this.”  _ __  
__  
She didn’t want to hurt Daisy, she really didn’t, but she had to save Daisy too. She had to save Fitz and Coulson and Mack and May and Yo-Yo and Daisy and Deke and the rest of the world. She had to save them all so she could be worth it. 

“I don’t want to.” She wiped the back of her hand over her eyes, flat tweezers in hand. She didn’t want to hurt Daisy. She didn’t want Daisy to die. 

“But I have to.” 

She managed to grip the inhibitor like it was the crescendo of a piece of music, the rumble of drums returning, getting louder by the second. She pulled, the noise fading away into a hum as she kept pulling. 

Daisy. The scalpel. The inhibitor. Ripping it out, wire by wire. 

-

She looked into the cup, watching the liquid as if something was going to jump out and get her. Fitz had left her tray on the table, barely looking at her, and then left immediately after. She wasn’t lying when she said she didn’t know how things would go. She didn’t know what to do. Jemma knew it was wrong, but she couldn’t resent what she had done, of course she couldn’t. She didn’t want to hate Daisy but she knew she could save the world. She knew it had to be Daisy- the science made sense and it was a logical conclusion to come to. She hadn’t stopped hearing  _ her _ voice, either. Telling her she shouldn’t have let them take her in here, that she should have fought for her right to stay. 

She looked at the cup, the food she hadn’t touched. She sniffed- tea, she knew that much. It wasn’t warm anymore but it might have been when Fitz had brought it. Chamomile. It’d been one of her favourites when she was at the Academy, cramming for tests and exams and trying so hard to get better every time. She had at least two cups every day on the Bus. She had broken mugs and tea cups alike, thrown the travel mugs when her hands shook too hard to drink from them after her accident. Cups late into the night as she studied the Monolith, ordering camomile tea in the cafes in the cities she went to trying to figure out how to bring Fitz back. He’d bring her cups late at night when he knew she wouldn’t be asleep either and they’d sit close, the warmth of the liquid heating their hands. She felt better with him there, despite knowing he was probably thinking of nothing worse than having to see her face. 

She didn’t know if they would survive this. They survived the accident and the undercover work and Maveth. They had survived the Framework and being separated by space and time. He had been a slave under Kasius and she had travelled in cryosleep for years, had been tortured by that  _ voice _ for six months and she survived. She didn’t know if she could survive this. She lifted up the cup, finding her hands shaking again. She put the cup down. Jemma lifted it again, her hands shaking. She placed it down gently, taking a deep breath. 

The Doctor was quiet for now. She would lift this cup until it was as natural as breathing, as her heart beating, as her mind thinking. Patience. They would survive this. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! I hope you enjoyed this little burst of angst right before valentines day. Feel free to leave kudos or a comment if you wish or to send me a message/ask on tumblr at docjemsimmons! I hope you have a great day <3


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